1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid line of thermoplastic material. The fluid line includes at least one first end section which is formed integrally with a principal part of the fluid line which is at least partially undulated, and at least one outer circumferential sealing ring receiving groove and a first holding rib for engaging behind at least one first locking projection of a connecting ring. The connecting ring is provided with at least one second locking projection for engaging behind a second holding rib on a second end section of the pipe. The first end section can be inserted into the second end section in order to connect the fluid line to the pipe by means of the connecting ring.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fluid line of the above-described type is known from EP 1378701 A1. The fluid line is used primarily in motor vehicles, for example, as a fuel line or a water line.
The fluid line is usually manufactured by extrusion blow molding in a corrugator. The undulation of the pipe has the purpose of achieving a greater flexibility of the fluid line in order to adapt the fluid line to the tight space conditions in the motor vehicle by bending the pipe. However, the first end section must have a high bending stiffness in order to hold the connection of the fluid line with the pipe, e.g. a pipe piece, in such a way that it is capable of bearing loads and is tight. Therefore, in the known fluid line, the wall of the first end section is constructed with the appropriate thickness. Simultaneously, the wall of the principal part of the fluid line adjacent the first end section is constructed at least in the non-undulated sections at least with the same thickness as the first end section. On the other hand, the thickness of the wall of the undulations in the undulated sections of the principal part is only slightly reduced during blow molding. Consequently, in spite of the undulations and particularly if the undulations extend only over some sections of the pipe, the fluid line is still more bending resistant than desired and, consequently, requires a large amount of material.